THE CAUCUS; Miners Protest N.R.A. Ad

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

Published: October 3, 2008

Appalachia is supposed to be one of Senator Barack Obama's biggest weak spots. But judging from a surprise work stoppage at the Blacksville No. 2 coal mine in West Virginia, Mr. Obama evidently has some pockets of support there.

On Monday, more than 440 members of the United Mine Workers of America took the day off, halting production at the Blacksville mine. The union declared it a memorial day, largely to protest what union officials said was an anti-Obama advertisement that the National Rifle Association was filming at the mine.

Phil Smith, the union's communications director, said that the mine's owner, Consol Energy, had allowed the film crew to go on the property, and that the crew had asked several miners, ''How do you feel about having your Second Amendment rights taken away if Obama becomes president?''

Word spread to several miners who supported Mr. Obama, and someone called union headquarters in Virginia. Soon after, Cecil E. Roberts, the union's president, declared a memorial day, which is allowed under the contract, to protest the N.R.A.'s filming and to show support for Mr. Obama.

In an interview on WBOY, a television station in Clarksburg, W.Va., Eric Greathouse, safety chairman of U.M.W.A. Local 1702, said, ''A lot of the miners felt that this was a direct slap in the face of the union because they were trying to coerce our people into saying things against Barack Obama.'' The parent union has endorsed Mr. Obama.

Andrew Arulanandam, the N.R.A.'s director of public affairs, said the film crew had been welcomed to the site.

''Union members are the backbone of the N.R.A.'s membership,'' Mr. Arulanandam said, adding that the protest was ''clearly mischief driven by the Obama campaign.''

Thomas F. Hoffman, Consol Energy's senior vice president for external affairs, said the company had meant no harm by allowing the crew to film at the mine. ''We were disappointed that the whole thing came out the way it came out,'' Mr. Hoffman said.